632 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1173 



THE SMITHSONIAN STATION FOR THE STUDY 

 OF SOLAR RADIATION 



The Smithsonian Institution has established 

 a station for the study of solar radiation on 

 Hump Mountain, two miles from the town of 

 Elk Park, North Carolina, at an altitude of 

 about 4,800 feet. Dr. Charles E. Abbot, who 

 has just returned from Hump Mountain, re- 

 ports that the main and auxiliary buildings are 

 ready and that the equipment is nearly all 

 hauled up to the station. With the assistance 

 of Mr. A. F. Moore, of Los Angeles, who is to 

 be the local director. Dr. Abbot unpacked and 

 set up most of the observing apparatus, all of 

 which he expects will be ready for use in a few 

 days. 



Assisting Mr. Moore, is Mr. Leonard H. 

 Abbot, of Worcester, Mass., and associated 

 with Mr. Moore for some weeks will be Mr. L. 

 B. Aldrich, of the Astrophysical Observatory, 

 who left Washington recently for North Caro- 

 lina to represent Dr. Abbot. The expedition 

 is expected to continue at Hump Mountain for 

 a year, or longer if conditions warrant. Its 

 purpose is to observe variations of the sun's 

 output of radiation, such as have been dis- 

 covered by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Ob- 

 servatory and recorded heretofore at its sta- 

 tion located on Mount Wilson, in California. 

 It is hoped that the cooperative measurements 

 of the new Smithsonian station in North Caro- 

 lina and the station on Mount Wilson wiU pro- 

 mote weather forecasting. 



The data needed for such forecasting is se- 

 cured from measurements of the sun's varia- 

 tion made with the bolometer, invented by Dr. 

 Samuel P. Langley, late secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, taken at observing stations 

 located in different parts of the world. After 

 comparing and correcting these readings regis- 

 tered by the sun's rays, they are referred to 

 standardized tables and the corresponding 

 changes in the temperature of the earth's sur- 

 face calculated in advance for different lo- 

 calities. 



In a pamphlet on this subject recently pub- 

 lished by the Smithsonian Institution, the au- 

 thor. Dr. H. Helm Clayton, of the Argentine 

 Meteorological Service, states: 



Two important conclusions are derived from this 

 study: (1) That there is an intimate relation be- 

 tween solar changes and meteorological changes of 

 short period, and that measurements of solar 

 radiation like those made by Dr. Abbot and his as- 

 sociates have the greatest importance for meteorol- 

 ogy. (2) That there is a class of meteorological 

 changes which have their origin in equatorial re- 

 gions and by a transference of air, probably in 

 the upper layers, are felt within a few days in 

 higher latitudes. These changes are the comple- 

 ment of the complex meteorological drift which 

 goes from west to east in temperate latitudes with 

 a component of motion from pole to equator in 

 both hemispheres. 



THE AQUARIUM OF THE CALIFORNIA ACAD- 

 EMY OF SCIENCES 



By the will of Mr. Ignatz Steinhart, recently 

 deceased, the California Academy of Sciences 

 wiU receive the sum of $250,000 for an aqua- 

 riixm building to be erected in Golden Gate 

 Park adjacent to or adjoining the buildings or 

 museuim of the Academy of Sciences. Ac- 

 cording to the terms of the will the aquariimi 

 is to be known as the Steinhart Aquarium, to 

 be under the management, superintendence 

 and control of the California Academy of Sci- 

 ences, and the expense of maintenance to be 

 met by the city of San Francisco. 



At a recent election a charter amendment 

 was adopted which directs the Board of Super- 

 visors of the city of San Francisco to include 

 each year in their annual budget an item of 

 not less than $20,000 for aquarium mainte- 

 nance. 



Mr. Steinhart made many bequests to char- 

 itable and educational institutions, the total 

 amount disposed of being about $3,000,000. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Among the degrees conferred at the com- 

 mencement at Princeton University were the 

 doctorate of laws on Dr. George E. Hale, chair- 

 man of the National Research Council, and the 

 degree of doctor of science on Dr. Charles H. 

 Mayo, retiring president of the American Med- 

 ical Association, and Theobald Smith, director 

 of the department of animal pathology of the 

 Eockefeller Institute for Medical Eesearch. 



